


Challenge the Sky

by Overthere



Category: No. 6 (Anime & Manga), No. 6 - All Media Types, No. 6 - Asano Atsuko
Genre: M/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-29 10:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3892969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Overthere/pseuds/Overthere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has their own way of coping with whatever shit life throws your way, Nezumi included.</p>
<p>This is set after canon, pre-reunion.</p>
<p>Once upon a time, somewhere deep in the Mao forests...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Challenge the Sky

Recently, Nezumi had grown to love the rain; the way it scrubbed all the dust and pollution from the air, and polished the dull gray stones into mountains of silver. Back in West Block, he had never really appreciated it. Sure, the water levels would rise, but more than anything, it was a nuisance. It meant heavy foot traffic as people slowly picked their way through the slippery, uneven roads. A sour mood would always hang over the land as people covered their faces, paranoid of deadly cold or flu.

However, in the wide forest that outskirted No. 6, it was truly a sight to behold. First, there was the anticipation. Silence would fall just before the storm hit, all the little animals tucking away in various nests and cubbies. Then, the air would tremor, growing heavy with aromatic humidity. Next, tiny droplets would shimer down, clearing the way for the grand display- the final cloudburst that sent the sky roaring.

On just such a day, Nezumi stood in a clearing, stark naked, arms stretched to the sky. His hair trailed in a river down his back, pressed flat against his his head as water streamed through it. The mice were diligently guarding his backpack beneath an overhanging cliff face, whiskers wet and drooping, looking absolutely miserable.

Another thing Nezumi had grown to appreciate since leaving West Block was nakedness. Both figuratively and literally. The thrill of letting his guard down completely, even if only for a few moments, was incomparable.

The first time he’d done it was a few months back. He’d woken up from yet another nightmare in a long string of nightmares that had plagued him since the wall had fallen. He’d dreamt of falling, flung from the back of a Correctional Facility truck and into a seemingly endless pit. Fire raged below him, twisting upward with humanoid fingers to tear at his skin. Burning, falling, burning, falling- he’d woken up in a cold sweat, the scars on his back throbbing painfully.

That particular day was the anniversary of the fall of No. 6. He was only about a three month’s walk from the remnants of the wall, and the proximity made his skin crawl. Before the sun had even risen, he’d tucked his groggy, confused mice into his pockets, and taken off running.

He ran for hours, the muscles in his legs searing, sweat pouring down his face. He ran until his stomach was in knots, and his feet were numb. He ran until his eyes were blinded by the wind, and his ears were deafened by the cold. He ran until he collapsed face first into the dirt, laughing hysterically with whatever breath he could still manage to pull into his aching lungs.

He slept in burst where he lay, five minutes at a time, woken again and again by screaming fires, endless pits, and that flicker of darkness behind Shion’s eyes… He woke with a start every time, the scent of death in his nose.

Hysteria fueled by endorphins, Nezumi pushed himself to his knees, staring pleadingly at the empty sky. He wasn’t sure what he was asking for, he just needed to beg. Dripping with sweat, bruised from his run, and covered in dirt, he figured he might as well sink a step lower, crying openly to no one, for no one.

_It would be a mercy if someone killed me right now,_ he thought, _Not another day of this… I don’t want it anymore._

Somewhere inside he knew he was lying. Somewhere, the spark that kept him going still burned just bright enough to keep him from giving up entirely. Still, at times like these, he wondered whether or not he should just throw his soul to the wind and see where it landed- somewhere far away from his shaking body.

_I want to give up._

__

_I want to give up everything._

He must have believed himself, because in that moment, everything changed. His muscles relaxed, joints popping easily. The set of his brow melted, his eyes widening with whatever high was possessing him. A strange calm rushed through his body. The kind of calm that can’t be bothered to care about anything in the world.

A whim struck him- he took off all his clothes and challenged the sky- “Come and get me.”

Ever since, like an addict chasing a high, Nezumi searched for that calm. On the roughest nights, on the darkest days, he challenged the sky, naked to the world and _happy._

The rain poured down a few months after that, washing clean his body and soul. Lightning shot across the sky, purple fireworks followed by an earthshaking _boom._ Even the trees bowed to the wind, shedding their leaves like mourner’s tears. Nezumi laughed, head thrown back like a madman, voice lost in the chaos.

“Come and get me!” He screamed, the plea lost even to his own ears. “I dare you! Come and get me!”

Hysterical laughter shaking his slim frame, he remembered that night almost six years ago- had Shion felt the same? Screaming into the storm like his cries could hold the world together… or maybe break it apart.

“AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” He mimicked, voice snapping harshly but he didn’t care. “AHHHHHHH!!!!”

The wind cried in return, whipping his hair painfully against his face and back.

To Nezumi, they might as well have been dancing. Someday, he’d have to tell Shion he finally understood.

The mice trembled pitifully, chirping uselessly into the storm, and Nezumi either ignored them, or didn’t care. He screamed until his throat was raw and painful, until he had no way to tell if he was even making sound anymore. He grasped at the rain and the wind, scoffing at the acquiescent, bowing trees as he stood tall, goading on the wind to toss him into the air.

The rain beyond West Block was beautiful. It was wild and angry, yet caring and honest. Always honest. The rain had a thousand moods, and it never concealed a thing. Nezumi was glad to be it’s pupil, embracing nakedness and hysteria until it drove him sane. Facing vulnerability and terror until it made him calm.

**  
**When the rain finally subsided, Nezumi hardly noticed. As the sun returned and dried his pale skin, he stood still, eyes closed and thinking of nothing. He was woken from his stupor by the claws and chirps of the mice trying to climb up his leg. Dazedly, he redressed and tucked them in his pockets, walking forward into another day.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. :)


End file.
